Transferring Capability for Microgrids and Resilience in DoD Installations

Transferring Capability for Microgrids and Resilience in DoD Installations Transferring Capability for Microgrids and Resilience in DoD Installations 5. Objective: The National Defense Authorization Act and all branches specifically mandate resilience yet there are insufficient resources to support infrastructure and training, and further, limited guidance on how to conceptualize, execute, and fund resilience. This project will provide energy resilience training focused on microgrids to: (a) Enhance understanding, design for, and sustainment of reliable energy access for mission assurance within military installations (b) Facilitate cross-collaboration between utilities, installation leadership, and installation facilities to develop resilient energy solutions such as microgrids, and (c) Disseminate a standardized microgrid resilience knowledge set and expertise across DoD entities with continuation through DoD training programs for facilities personnel (e.g., CECOS). 6. Technology Description: This project will refine and scale existing training content from ASU, NREL, and Slipstream into a series of recurring microgrid training opportunities targeted towards military installation facilities and leadership, energy utility partners, and DoD contractors/partners. Innovative aspects of this training methodology include: A continuous feedback collection and improvement model to ensure training content quality and continued relevance. This method has been successfully implemented in previous training efforts to create a flexible framework for adapting curricula to current events and needs. A comprehensive needs assessment mapping key skill gaps to uniformed and civilian DoD job roles enables targeted training topics and metrics to measure program success. This builds a narrative on microgrid training needs and personnel requirements for energy resilience in the DoD. Flexible format curricula (in-person, virtual, or hybrid delivery) to accommodate the needs of uniformed and civilian DoD employee work role responsibilities, financial limitations, or unprecedented circumstances such as COVID-19. Needs-focused curricula design approach with modularized lessons supported with optional customizable case studies and focus areas. This technology transfer program will enable expansion through standardization of training and embed training into existing DoD training commands and programs with support from Slipstream and Converge Strategies. 7. Expected Benefits: Mission assurance and success is dependent on a defense workforce equipped with the tools and technical acuity to fight modern wars. As emphasized by the National Defense Strategy 2018, we must place priority on developing a modernized, highly-capable force through recruitment, development, and retainment of talent both in uniformed and civilian job roles. This work directly meets this need by providing targeted training to participants to improve knowledge in career relevant skills and prepare them to design and operate DoD installations with a systems-level understanding of resilient energy technology such as microgrids. Results will be directly measured through quantitative and qualitative metrics on knowledge gain, program impact, career relevance, program quality, and adoption. These success indicators and subsequent training scaling during and following funded program completion will improve the capacity of the DoD to meet critical power for 7-14 days, reduce costs of critical load protection, and reduce overall operation costs for utilities.